"Ugh..." Spike groaned. The unexpected arrival of the message managed to toss him out of his bed and left his limbs entangled in his blanket. "What the...? Are you kidding me?"
Upon hearing the noise, Twilight immediately rose from her mattress. Her eyes widened as she noticed her friend on the floor, not to mention the letter lying beside him.
"Sorry, Spike!" she said. Her hooves threw the covers off herself, and she quickly hopped out of her bed and hurried to her friend's side. "I, uh... I wasn't expecting a reply. Not so soon. Honest!"
The dragon grumbled under his breath as he shook himself free from his blanket. Twilight bit her lip as an odd pain struck her chest again. Her forehoof stretched out, helping her friend get to his feet.
"Great..." Spike muttered. He let go of Twilight's hoof, gave a long yawn, and turned to glare at his friend. "Now you're gonna have a 'nighttime pen pal' or something?" He rolled his eyes. "Better make Owlowiscious carry your letters then..."
"No, Spike. It's not like that at all," Twilight said and looked away. Her lips trembled. "I'm very sorry about this. I just... I wanted to write that letter and..."
"Never mind..." Spike said with a sigh. He glanced at the letter on the floor. "So, what's it say? What's so 'urgent' that it had to come now?"
"Well, let me see..." Twilight replied. Her horn lit up, and the scroll floated up from the floor and unraveled before her face. She cleared her throat and read it out loud.
-----
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Your letter has been received. I intend to respond as soon as possible, though at what length I cannot yet predict.
If it is convenient, please wait just a little longer.
Your friend,
Luna
-----
Spike let out another groan. "Fantastic... There's gonna be another message?"
Twilight winced at her friend's complaints. "I guess so," she replied. The scroll levitated away from her face and landed on her desk. The pain in her chest flared again. "Sorry," she said in a near-whisper.
"Meh, don't sweat it..." Spike said. He smirked and gave Twilight's shoulder a friendly bump with his fist. "It's not like this is the first time you had me stay up late, right?"
Twilight just hung her head in response. Spike gave a small chuckle. He then paused for a moment and stepped back, his eyes narrowing as he stared at her. "Hey. You look kinda... different," he added.
Twilight raised an eyebrow as she turned back to him. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," Spike said. He scratched at his head, and his eyes kept scanning her up and down curiously. "It's like... you were mopey all day, but now you look... just sleepy, I guess. But you look better, is what I'm trying to say."
Twilight straightened a bit, and her face lit up. "Really?" she asked.
Spike nodded. "Yeah. Whatever was in that letter you had me send, I guess it helped."
"Let's hope so," Twilight muttered.
"That reminds me, what was in it anyway?"
Her friend gulped, and after a bit of hesitation, she proceeded to give Spike a short summary of her letter, or at least whatever she could recall about it. She was surprised to find just how little of a mark it left in her mind after it all poured out. It was akin to trying to remember what was in a trash bag that she had just thrown away. The relief of being rid of it was all that mattered to her at the time.
"Huh..." Spike said after she was done. "Heavy stuff. I think you better sit down with the others tomorrow." He rubbed his eyes and yawned again. "Or is it 'today' now? Anyway... got any more late night messages I gotta send right away?
"Uh..." Twilight's hooves shuffled awkwardly. "No, I don't think so, but—"
"Great," Spike said. "I'm going to bed then."
Twilight blinked. "Wait!" she blurted out. "Spike! Didn't you hear what the letter said? We need to stay awake until she replies."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "'We'?" he asked. "Don't you mean just you?"
"I..." Twilight's voice shook as she struggled to force the words out. "I don't want to... I'd rather not stay up alone. Not tonight."
Spike groaned and rolled his eyes again. Grumbling under his breath, he trudged across the room and sat down on the edge of Twilight's bed. His friend gave a painful sigh as she walked over and sat down next to him. She smiled and placed a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, to which he replied with a huff and crossed his arms.
For a while, the two of them just sat there in silence. Though Spike did not complain much even later on, Twilight decided to fetch some leftover chocolate and give it to him anyway. It brightened his mood somewhat, but it was not enough for very long.
"It's been over an hour now, Twilight," Spike said between huge yawns. His eyelids could barely stay open now. "Let's go to bed."
"Come on, Spike," Twilight said, though she herself had almost no strength left at this point. "Just a little longer. Please?"
Spike chuckled and shook his head. He hopped off the bed and walked back toward his own. "She's Princess Luna, Twilight," he said. "I'm sure she has better common sense than to send another letter tonight, so—"
He was cut off by a strong grumbling in his stomach. Spike's eyes widened, and his hands flew up to his mouth as he doubled over. Moments later, a large plume of green fire erupted from his mouth with a loud belch. It coalesced into a scroll in mid-air, which dropped to the floor next to the dragon as he lay there, gasping for breath.
"I... stand corrected..." he whimpered.
Poor Spike... I always feel sorry for him whenever he's turned into the messenger-dragon. All of those letters can't be good for the digestive track.
Since that conversation probably took about two minutes or so, I guess Luna needs at least 7 minutes to reply :D
Good to see this is continuing though.
5011026
Okay okay... at least I tried...
5011026 Little does our pretty purple pony know, Princess Luna practices an ancient form of speed-writing which is lost to modern ponies,
5011314
I was actually thinking about something like that... but then I remembered this little thing called "lampshade hanging," so...
5006449 Pretty much every fantasy/fiction writer would beg to differ.
Or do we believe that J.R.R. Tolkien actually went to Middle Earth?
5011917
Actually... yeah, kinda...
5011949 I shall be visiting your mind tonight as you sleep...
5012179
5012201 The silhouette of a face grinning in the shadows, the gleaming eyes seen at the edge of vision from every mirror... there am I.
5012510
Are you the guy who fixes the internet cable in my house?
I totally wouldn't see a problem with Luna writing a lengthy letter in five minutes. After all, what else can you do on the moon other than writing answer letters for problems that not yet have occurred?
5013065
Read the author's notes in the first chapter...
5013151
C'est un poids bien pesant qu'un nom trop tôt fameux.
My expectations of unannounced continuation obviously have overtaken an author yet again.
5013276
Oh wait... I get it...
fimfiction-static.net/images/story_images/196.jpg
Sorry, I guess I was too tired to immediately figure out what you meant.
That is actually so genius that I should probably use it in the followup chapter.
Unless of course I count something similar that is already in there...
5012725 Nah. I'm the postman.
Interesting. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
"It was akin to trying to remember what was in a trash bag that she had just thrown away."
I think it's supposed to be " to try to" ? I'm not sure, correct me if I'm wrong.
5118095 Nah, that sentence is perfectly fine how it is.
5289174 granted, it does sound a little awkward, but then again, English.